It’s not what you spend — it’s what you get. Everybody loves a bargain, yet no discount is worth putting workers at risk.
With PPE, there’s a monumental difference between buying cheap PPE and buying high-quality equipment that include benefits beyond the dollars you spend.
Why not use the cheap stuff?
One of the most common factors leading to worker injury is the removal of PPE. This is often against regulations, but workers remove their PPE regardless because the equipment is uncomfortable, doesn't fit, inhibits the task being performed or gets in the way in some other fashion. More often than not, this issue can be traced back to the item being cheap, low-quality garbage that doesn't have any of the valuable premium features that come with the more costly equipment.
Many gloves, for example, are removed mid-work because they lack the dexterity required for fine work. If a worker has to remove their protective equipment in order to properly perform their job, they don't have the right PPE. Higher-quality - and by extension, more expensive - gloves have been developed that with the proper fit will allow a worker to maintain their gloveless dexterity while not compromising their protective factors, but plenty of employers balk at the price tag and skip over it to something cheaper. This is unacceptable.
Is it worth the cost?
While it should go without saying that worker health is more valuable than profit ever will be, it turns out that most of the time, it's still cheaper to purchase equipment that fully protects your workers. Safe Work Australia reported in 2012-13 that it costed an employer $5800 on average for work-related incidents through the combination of medical costs, legal/investigation costs, and lost productivity costs. Makes that extra $100 or so on equipment seem a bit more worthwhile, doesn't it?
On top of the cost saved for the employer, it also saves significantly more for the employee, who bears the brunt of the damages and can face an average of $90,300 total as they deal with everything that comes about from their injury - and that doesn't even factor in the worker's mental well-being, which frequently takes a quick plummet after severe injury.
This is not to say budget equipment is worthless - it has its place, as with anything. Low-risk and short-term work can often manage just fine with budget equipment, where the premium qualities would be excessive for the work being performed.
Lifespan, and other considerations:
What's cheaper - a $200 pair of boots that lasts 10 years, or a $50 pair of boots that lasts one? This is the question that often comes up when dealing with economy-priced PPE. Even if you save money in the short-term, the costs involved with replacing subpar PPE can quickly outstrip these savings and turn them into wasted money that could've been put to something else.
Beyond that, higher-quality equipment is more likely to protect the worker properly, even if both budget and expensive equipment is worn correctly at all times. Far more guarantee comes with that price tag, and it only takes one set of bad coincidences to exceed the budget equipment's capabilities when you could otherwise either protect from, or minimise, the injury that will be sustained.
It's an ROI?
Believe it or not, a 2010 Australian Government Comcare report found that investing in the health and safety of your workers can lead to an almost 600% return on investment, with a reported $5.81 return for every dollar invested in workplace health programs. These savings come from many sources, including reduced staff turnover, absenteeism and workers’ compensation claims, attracting higher quality staff, as well as increased creativity, innovation and general productivity. If your company treats workers well, they'll treat your company well in return - leading to mutual benefit.
For further information, check out the MSA white paper on this topic or the ProChoice blog post
